BERN, SWITZERLAND – Chocolate and cheese consumption in Switzerland aren’t slipping, but two liquid icons of Swissness are continuing their downward trend: milk and wine consumption are both slipping, despite an increasing population. Whether the larger share of foreigners in the population partially explains the change is a matter for conjecture. Cheese consumption has remained […]

Berne Declaration group delivers giant chocolate bar to Ernst Tanner, CEO of Lindt & Sprungli ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – Switzerland’s staid business reputation gets a shock every now and again when an annual general meeting (AGM) is visited by protestors, such as orangatang-garbed ones who dropped in on Nestlé a couple years ago. 2013 will go […]

But will it pass muster in Switzerland? GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A telling detail is that the results were presented, not to the chocolate industry, but to the American Chemical Society’s annual meeting Sunday 7 April: fat in chocolate can be reduced by inserting “microscopic droplets of fruit juice”. This is about a process, not a […]

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – A legal battle pitching two unlikely opponents, a Swiss chocolate Christmas bear versus a German gummy bear, has so far resulted in Zurich-region Lindt & Spruengli losing the first round, despite shortening the name of its bear to Lindt Teddy. The gold-foiled wrapped bear is an extension of the company’s hugely successful […]

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Both houses of parliament are now backing legislation to strengthen the label “made in Switzerland”, after the upper house agreed Monday 10 December to require 80 percent of raw materials to be from Switzerland in food products and 50 percent of total production costs for industrial products. The Federal Council has been […]

Swiss cognitive function, measured in Nobels, and chocolate consumption, measured by sales, both high GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A tip, maybe, from the Swiss, who are the world’s innovation winners and who, by 2011, had garnered more Nobel prizes per capita than any other nation: keep eating certain fruits and chocolate and drinking green tea and […]

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND – One of downtown Zurich’s hottest tourist and locals spots, the Bahnhofstrasse Spruengli cafe, now has a twin at the city’s airport, good news for travelers with time for chocolate and more. The 84-seat Sprüngli Café & Lounge in the Airside Center sells the company’s famed chocolates, of course, but you can also […]

BERN, SWITZERLAND – Farmers Andreas and Franziska Knutti have been completely caught by surprise by the media hype from abroad over their six-legged calf Lilli. Blick ran the story, which was picked up by AP in English and other languages, and soon the family was receiving media calls from The Netherlands and Sweden, reports local […]

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – We’ve all suspected it and now Nestlé researchers tell us it is true: a nibble of dark chocolate a day reduces our stress level. A research team that looked at the biochemical basis for what many of us like to consider comfort food found “strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 […]

BERN, SWITZERLAND – The Swiss Federal Highway Office has issued its annual Easter vacation and spring holidays traffic warnings. Switzerland sits at the centre of European’s north-south routes and the rush to head towards warm, sunny beaches has an impact on roads that will be saturated with Swiss travelers. The detailed list of dates and […]